“The story so far: In the beginning the Universe was created.This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move.” Chapter 1, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (1980) – by Douglas Adams

Lassel made his fortune with beer-brewing, giving him the freedom to build his own observatories (plural) at Liverpool and Malta, and construct his own telescopes (plural, large and heavily mechanised for their day).

Betty and Barney Hill, an American couple, claimed that they were abducted by aliens and experimented upon. Over the years, the Hills’ own stories have grown increasingly fabulous, as well as inspiring a cultural revolution in reports of alien abductions and similar encounters.

None of their claims have ever been substantiated, and sceptics, including Brian Dunning of the Skeptioid podcast, have managed to poke so many holes in the story there isn’t even anything left to hold the holes together.